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400 years of newspapers

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This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first known newspaper, according to the World Association of Newspapers.

It
has accepted documentary evidence from the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz,
Germany, that the paper was produced in Strasbourg (now in France)n and
called Relation.

Martin Welke, founder of the German Newspaper
Museum, said it was published by Johann Carolus, who earned his living
producing handwritten newsletters for rich subscribers.

Welke
said: “In 1604, he bought a complete printing shop from the widow of a
famous printer. In the summer of 1605 he switched to printing his
newspapers because it took him ‘too much time copying by hand’.”

WAN director Tim Balding said that a billion people now read a daily paper.

“A figure that has risen nearly five per cent in the last five years.

“So,
we’re not only 400 years old – or rather young – but we are globally
enjoying great health and can presumably look forward to the next
century or so, at least, with optimism”.